iPhone Apps: The Top 10 Finance Apps

Since the release of the iPhone, there has been a frenzy of software developers coming up with new applications to make our lives more fun, more productive and more informed. Now with over 200,000 apps already on the market (and growing), there really is an app for everything. But sorting the useful from the useless can be time consuming. Your Investment Property Magazine has done the heavy lifting for you to find the best money apps on the market to help you with all your financial needs:

1. [FREE] MealSplit
By iHarwood.com

Group meals are always enjoyable, raucous occasions until the bill arrives. The bill makes its way down the table to the most mathematically adept person, sometimes it may be two or three people, and they sit with their heads together, shoulder hunched and brows furrowed before emerging many minutes later sighing with relief. The frantic expression returns as they realise they forgot that someone at the table is paying for drinks they didn’t consume, and the mathematical group huddle begins again.

Closely resembling an Excel spreadsheet, MealSplit means everyone at dinner can be a mathematician. It allows you to enter the total cost of the food and the amount of people, followed by the same for drinks, then tax and tip percentage before calculating the final amount drinkers and non-drinkers owe. It’s a fantastic app. because it’s so straight forward and easy to use. It’s also designated driver and child friendly with the cost of drinks being excluded for non-drinkers.

2. XpenseTracker $3.99
By Silver Software

Gone are the days of pen and paper, nowadays technology reigns supreme, even with budgeting. XpenseTracker is an online tool that allows its members to keep a record of all their expenditure. With iPhone apps. rapidly expanding, the company released a mobile friendly version for their users. XpenseTracker allows you to record all your expenses on a day-to-day basis, including your mileage which is really handy if you work reimburses you for travel expenses.

It has a very user friendly interface and you can categorise your expenditure by date or category. Using the iPhone camera, you can also take photos of receipts and insert them into each expense log. XpenseTracker also connects to your PC so you can sync your expense record easily.

3. [FREE] Tradefields
By iStockManager

Have you ever wanted to get involved in stocks and shares and trading but had no clue how to do it? Tradefields can teach you, but not in a tutorial kind of way. Tradefields is a simulation game and it teaches beginners how to enter the world of stock trading. Those with experience can still play as it furthers market knowledge as well. Players create their own portfolio and track it to the highest possible profit. It’s designed to be played with friends and players can sync their scores with Facebook to compete with others.

4. BillTracker $2.49 (Also available LITE)
By SnapTap

Everyone has some form of bills to pay from the standard water and electricity to the dreaded mortgage to monthly mobile phone recharges and annual magazine subscriptions. It’s hard to keep track of all that – the fridge doesn’t have enough space for the kid’s paintings, the dentist appointments, the grocery list and the next three bills due in the next week. If you keep them in a little pocket on the wall or in a pile on your desk, there’s a high chance they’ll be buried and slip your mind.

BillTracker lets you record when the bills are due on a calendar and how much they’ll set you back. Before the due date, it gives you an alert and highlights it on the calendar so you can’t possibly forget and be submitted to late fees. Once they’re paid for, you get the satisfaction of crossing it off the calendar.

5. [FREE] Bloomberg
By Bloomberg.com

A trusted name in the financial sector, Bloomberg has now created its own app. for traders on the go. With a simple and dark interface, it makes trading stocks look highly appealing. There are six options on the main screen – news, news by region, market snapshot, world indexes, quotes and portfolios. The app. refreshes the news with each log on so that you’re always up-to-date with the latest market news all over the world. The market snapshot and world indexes are complete with graphs so you can effectively analyse the fluctuations in price and you can also log in with your username and password to access and manage your portfolio.

6. [FREE] XE Currency
By XE.com

Another website that has expanded into apps., XE is for online shoppers on the go, potential travellers looking to buy currency or investors, bankers and economists. With the dollar so volatile, it’s handy to have the exact market rate in our pockets.

Just a simple page, the interface is a no-brainer. You can select as many currencies as you like on your home page and each time you open the app., it refreshes and synchronises to the current rate. XE is the app. for non-mathematical people. There’s no need to reach for a calculator to figure out how much USD your AUD will buy you because you just enter the amount, tap and the conversion is done for you.

7. PocketMoney $4.99 (Also available LITE)
By Catamount Software

Sometimes it gets overwhelming to deal with personal finances because there’s so many various aspects to it – budgeting, fortnightly salary, assets and liabilities, savings accounts, credit cards, loans and debt, withdrawals, deposits, transfers and the list goes on. PocketMoney is the app. that coordinates all of these into a ball of financial organisation for the user.

It syncs to desktops and syncs the entries from other apps. including iReceipt, MPG and CheckPlease, records figures in your home currency and foreign currency if you’re a frequent traveller, tracks your accounts and generates pie charts and expense reports for you to visually see your spending habits. Useful and easy to use, its users are raving about it.

8. [FREE] ATM Hunter
By MasterCard

Everyone has been on the frustrating hunt for an ATM and now with ATM Hunter, the answer is only a few taps away. Created by Mastercard, ATM Hunter can find the nearest ATM when you type in your current address or airport. If you don’t know your address or the airport is too far away, it can also use your GPS to locate your current location. The best part? It works all over the world so you’ll never struggle to withdraw cash anywhere in the world ever again.

9. [FREE] ShopSavvy
By Big in Japan

Sometimes when shopping, you find yourself wandering from store to store, checking the prices of the same item so as to not rort yourself. Five stores later, you are dead on your feet and you’ve found that the cheapest price is the first store you entered, and it is only cheaper by a dollar. If this scenario sounds familiar, ShopSavvy is a necessity for you.

ShopSavvy does exactly what was described, minus all the walking. Using the iPhone camera, you scan the barcode of the item you want and ShopSavvy will tell you which stores sell it and how much it costs in each store. It looks at both online stores and local stores, ensuring that you get the best bargain possible.

10. Mortgage Calculator Pro $.99
By SVT Software

This is an easy to use app. for brokers, realtors and home buyers. The interface includes data entry points including property cost, length, interest rate, down payment, annual insurance and taxes, monthly fees and then calculates the monthly repayments. It’s truly ideal for those on a house hunt as they can independently access their future financial commitments whilst looking at the house. You can also save each of the quotes under the favourites tab for easier recall at a later time and date.

Information contained on this website is for general information purposes only. It is not intended as, nor should it be construed as such, financial or investment advice. Prior to making any financial decisions, or commitments, professional advice from a registered financial advisor should be sought. No recommendations of financial products or services are made, and no content or material on this website should be viewed as providing such.